It wasn’t subtle, the comparative advertising Whitakers used, to absolutely decimate the trust New Zealanders had in the Cadbury brand. This is just one example of how media influence the choices we make. Often advertising is far more subtle. Children are being now targeted like never before. They are vulnerable because without an awareness of the issues surrounding media literacy they often they don’t have the knowledge and skills to make considered decisions. The issue for us then as educators is one of making children aware that advertisements are made for the purpose of influencing their thinking. According to Tallim (n.d.), children need the skills to be able to critically analyse the messages that inform, entertain and sell. She stresses the need, for children, to not only be aware of what's in front of them but also what isn't. What they see is the final product not the motivation behind the message. Our task is to help them ask the questions that will reveal all aspects of the message. To ask questions of who and what, in order to ascertain why. Thoman (n.d.) agrees and also suggests making the choice to limit exposure to media.
Limiting exposure to media may well help in lessening the impact that the media have on children because television and other media sources are commercial enterprises where fiscal interests are at the forefront. Advertisements can be deconstructed and analysed to ascertain the strategies used to sell a product, however it isn’t only the advertisements that influence us but the media around the advertising.
Popular culture is the fads, trends and icons preferred by mainstream society. According to Zanker (2000, p. 77), children “use popular culture in their ’work’ of identity formation as well as a source for ‘scripts’ used in play” and that it is the producers and marketers of children’s television programs that influence the “local cultural resources available” to children. They choose what our children view. Therefore our society’s popular culture is influenced by programs like ‘The Simpsons’. The must have toys, games, clothes and food have effectively been dictated to us by the self-interest of media outlets and their advertisers. Manufacturers use the characters from popular television programs to promote their goods and they also produce merchandise to promote the actual show.
The use of television, while very popular for promoting an advertiser’s wares, isn’t the only avenue open to them. Using the internet has been a natural progression and children are directly targeted online. Again it’s not only the upfront advertising techniques that are being used but also more subtle forms, one being, product websites. These include ‘Clubs’ like Lego.com, kids.yahoo.com, Disney.com offering games and giveaways while promoting themselves, their products, other advertisers products and collecting data from their target audience. These sites have real appeal to children. They are a captive audience and do not have the ability to judge how accurate information is, understand the ramifications of giving their personal details, understand that advertisers are collecting data, tell the difference between entertainment and advertising and importantly, understand the dangers of interacting with strangers on the internet (Austin & Reed, 1999), because the assumption would be that it is other children using these sites.
Be Prepared and advert being conned. Our Teacher resource aims to encourage students to become Critical thinkers, Critical Consumers and Critical Citizens. This resource asks parents to not only support their own children to develop their critical thinking skills, but by involving themselves, also challenge their own thinking as well. Collaboratively students will critically analyse advertisements and construct for themselves a framework of techniques advertisers use to influence purchasing choices. They will critically analyse the websites they use in order to increase their awareness of the way advertisers influence their thinking. An awareness of the issues will help them become media literate.
References
Austin, M. J., & Reed, M. L. (1999), Targeting children online: Internet advertising ethics issues. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(6), 590-602.
Zanker, R. (2002). Tracking the global in the local: On children’s culture in a small national media market. In C. van Feilitzen, & U. Carlsson (Eds.), Yearbook 2002: Children, young people and media globalisation (pp. 77-93). Göteborg University: Nordicom.
It wasn’t subtle, the comparative advertising Whitakers used, to absolutely decimate the trust New Zealanders had in the Cadbury brand. This is just one example of how media influence the choices we make. Often advertising is far more subtle. Children are being now targeted like never before. They are vulnerable because without an awareness of the issues surrounding media literacy they often they don’t have the knowledge and skills to make considered decisions. The issue for us then as educators is one of making children aware that advertisements are made for the purpose of influencing their thinking. According to Tallim (n.d.), children need the skills to be able to critically analyse the messages that inform, entertain and sell. She stresses the need, for children, to not only be aware of what's in front of them but also what isn't. What they see is the final product not the motivation behind the message. Our task is to help them ask the questions that will reveal all aspects of the message. To ask questions of who and what, in order to ascertain why. Thoman (n.d.) agrees and also suggests making the choice to limit exposure to media.
Limiting exposure to media may well help in lessening the impact that the media have on children because television and other media sources are commercial enterprises where fiscal interests are at the forefront. Advertisements can be deconstructed and analysed to ascertain the strategies used to sell a product, however it isn’t only the advertisements that influence us but the media around the advertising.
Popular culture is the fads, trends and icons preferred by mainstream society. According to Zanker (2000, p. 77), children “use popular culture in their ’work’ of identity formation as well as a source for ‘scripts’ used in play” and that it is the producers and marketers of children’s television programs that influence the “local cultural resources available” to children. They choose what our children view. Therefore our society’s popular culture is influenced by programs like ‘The Simpsons’. The must have toys, games, clothes and food have effectively been dictated to us by the self-interest of media outlets and their advertisers. Manufacturers use the characters from popular television programs to promote their goods and they also produce merchandise to promote the actual show.
The use of television, while very popular for promoting an advertiser’s wares, isn’t the only avenue open to them. Using the internet has been a natural progression and children are directly targeted online. Again it’s not only the upfront advertising techniques that are being used but also more subtle forms, one being, product websites. These include ‘Clubs’ like Lego.com, kids.yahoo.com, Disney.com offering games and giveaways while promoting themselves, their products, other advertisers products and collecting data from their target audience. These sites have real appeal to children. They are a captive audience and do not have the ability to judge how accurate information is, understand the ramifications of giving their personal details, understand that advertisers are collecting data, tell the difference between entertainment and advertising and importantly, understand the dangers of interacting with strangers on the internet (Austin & Reed, 1999), because the assumption would be that it is other children using these sites.
Be Prepared and advert being conned.
Our Teacher resource aims to encourage students to become Critical thinkers, Critical Consumers and Critical Citizens. This resource asks parents to not only support their own children to develop their critical thinking skills, but by involving themselves, also challenge their own thinking as well. Collaboratively students will critically analyse advertisements and construct for themselves a framework of techniques advertisers use to influence purchasing choices. They will critically analyse the websites they use in order to increase their awareness of the way advertisers influence their thinking. An awareness of the issues will help them become media literate.
References
Austin, M. J., & Reed, M. L. (1999), Targeting children online: Internet advertising ethics issues. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(6), 590-602.
Tallim, J. (n.d.). What is media literacy? Media Awareness Network. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
Thoman, E. (n.d.). The 3 stages of media literacy. Media Awareness Network. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
Zanker, R. (2002). Tracking the global in the local: On children’s culture in a small national media market. In C. van Feilitzen, & U. Carlsson (Eds.), Yearbook 2002: Children, young people and media globalisation (pp. 77-93). Göteborg University: Nordicom.